Twenty years ago, running brought them together as student-athletes at De Soto. Now former Dragon teammates Sarah (Helenschmidt) Brenker and Trish (Crady) Coleman have rekindled their friendship around – what else – running, competing in marathons together.
Brenker was a freshman at De Soto in 1997 when she beat out three other runners to earn a spot on the Dragons’ 4x800-meter relay team. The other three members of that quartet were seniors, one of whom was Coleman. The team finished third in the Class 3 state meet in Jefferson City, a nice cap to Coleman’s prep career.
It turned out Brenker was the secret ingredient in the relay team’s success.
“I was basically told by (then-De Soto coach Charles Campbell), ‘Helenschmidt, if you can run under 2:30, we’ll place at state,’” Brenker said. ‘If you don’t run under that, we won’t place at state. No pressure, but we’ve got three seniors counting on you.’”
The coach knew what he was talking about. Brenker’s split was 2:29.08.
“They made it a lot of fun and they told me to go out and run the best you can and that’s all we can ask for,” Brenker said.
Coleman said she was confident Brenker wouldn’t let the seniors down.
“I thought she had tenacity,” Coleman said. “She doesn’t back down from anything. She’s small but fierce.”
It was raining last week when I met the two ladies in St. Charles as they were preparing to run on the Katy Trail. When you train for marathons, you get accustomed to facing all kinds of weather conditions. For some, the wakeup call to hit the road comes before dawn.
Every marathon runner needs an accountability partner. Brenker is married to Josh Brenker, has two sons (Addison, 8 and Landon, 6) and lives in St. Peters. She works for Edward Jones as a financial advisor. Coleman lives in De Soto with her husband, Charles, and their four children (Caleb, 14; Blake, 11; Kyle, 8 and Dylan, 6). The two reconnected on Facebook about eight years ago and have been training together ever since.
Obviously, Brenker can’t meet Coleman on weekday mornings to run, so Coleman calls another friend to join her in the wee hours.
“I meet Izzie Isaacson at the Dollar General on Main Street in De Soto at 4:30 a.m. every morning to run six miles,” Coleman said. “When we’re done, we go our separate ways for the day.”
Coleman graduated from De Soto in 1997, three years ahead of Brenker, who went on to a stellar career as a Dragon. She made all-state four times in cross country, culminating in the Class 3 state championship as a senior in 1999. Injuries she suffered in a car accident later that school year kept her from competing in track that spring.
Brenker attended Jefferson College for two years before completing her undergraduate studies at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and earning a masters degree at Webster University. She was running in Couch-to-5K events when she became pregnant with her second son. After Landon was born, she increased her distances to 10Ks and half-marathons (13.1 miles).
“After I had Landon, I needed some me-time, so I got back into running as quickly as possible,” Brenker said. “I’m not like this crazy girl (Coleman) who runs while she’s pregnant.”
That’s right. Coleman ran two half-marathons when she was 28 and 32 weeks pregnant with her fourth son, Dylan.
“My doctor just told me to listen to my body,” Coleman said. “Running has helped me with postpartum, bouncing back and staying fit throughout my pregnancy.”
Coleman said she didn’t run while she was pregnant with her other three sons.
“My fourth came out with the tiniest body and baby weight and he’s a little spitfire,” she said. “I did my own little science experiment.”
Coleman attended Lindenwood University in St. Charles and competed for the Lions in volleyball and track. After a year there, she went to Jefferson College before getting her undergraduate degree from Missouri Baptist and masters from Webster University.
Coleman ran her first marathon in St. Louis in 2011, finishing in over 5 hours. She’s run 11 since then, including the Chicago and Indianapolis marathons and the granddaddy of the sport, the Boston Marathon. Her personal best is 3:24.09.
Brenker, with a PR of 3:35.11, has completed five marathons and ran at Boston and Chicago this year with Coleman.
Boston “is by far, one of the coolest races ever,” Brenker said. “I’m in awe of the city, the people, the support. You don’t start in the city. You’re bussed 26 miles outside of Boston and you run in. It’s wall-to-wall people as you get into the city.”
Coleman said she’s starting to focus on half-marathons, but plans to compete in Boston again next year.
However long Brenker and Coleman continue to run, they know they are passing on a legacy of good health and physical fitness to their children. In the meantime, the sport that started their friendship continues to sustain it. Brenker said that when she first reconnected with her old relay teammate, memories of that freshman year came rushing back.
“I know I can pick up the phone, and she’ll be there,” Brenker said. “It’s neat to have that instant connection again.”